TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews
Donnie Wahlberg Back on TV as a Good Guy ... Or Is He?
The Former New Kids Star Talks About His New TV Drama 'Kill Point' and His Next Big Movie
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July 16 -- With his New Kids on the Block days long a thing of the past, Donnie Wahlberg has turned in enough memorable movie and TV performances -- 'The Sixth Sense,' 'Band of Brothers,' 'Boomtown' and 'Saw II' -- to now be known for his acting chops.
Wahlberg is back on the tube with Spike's eight-part bank robbery drama 'The Kill Point.' The older brother of Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg plays a cop who tries to reason with a bank robber played by John Leguizamo (read Leguizamo interview).
Wahlberg chatted with AOL TV's Kimberly Potts about his new role, his love of working in TV, his next gig (with Messrs. Pacino and De Niro) and about those Johnny Drama rumors.
What made you sign on for 'The Kill Point'?
Well, I'll be honest with you. When I finished doing 'Runaway' last year, they said series, cop, first new series on a new network, and I said, "No, no, no." And then they said, "Well, [it's] John Leguizamo, [writer] James DeMonaco, the character of the hostage negotiator who's got some interesting personality traits." I read it and decided I wanted to do it.
Did you feel the show has sort of a movie vibe to it? It's kinda like 'Dog Day Afternoon' meets '24.'
I think 'Dog Day Afternoon' is fair, but I think it's much more complex than that. It's kind of like an eight-hour movie, except not boring. It has elements of 'Dog Day Afternoon,' but it's got elements of a lot of classic '70s movies, too, like the rawness of a 'Dirty Harry' movie, the 'Poseidon Adventure' has been mentioned, and 'The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3,' but the one constant in all the references is the 1970s. And when everyone says it looks like a film, and then they reference the 1970s, that makes me really happy. Those are the kinds of films that I grew up with, and those are the kinds of films that I want to make. I like working in TV though, and to work in TV and make something that's compared to great films of the '70s is a real thrill.
Are you hoping the show gets picked up for more episodes after this initial storyline wraps up?
I certainly wouldn't mind playing this character again. The show really goes a lot of places. My character, one of the reasons I love him so much is that he evolves a lot throughout the show. He comes on, and in his mind, he's sort of a flawless cop when he shows up. But is he? He has a perfect track record, but he's got a real problem with authority, and he goes through a real transition throughout the eight episodes.
Donnie Wahlberg Pics
'Runaway,' by the way, was on just long enough to get us hooked on the mystery before The CW cancelled it. Was it disappointing that it didn't go the whole season?
Thanks, and yeah, it was. [The CW] was supposed to run them this summer, the rest of the episodes. We actually did a final episode and resolved the storylines. There's a great, great twist that they came up with, so we'll see what happens.
What are you doing next?
I'm doing a film called 'Righteous Kill,' starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
The serial killer movie?
I can't say what it's about.
Can you tell me who you play?
Um, I play most of my scenes opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. That's all I can say right now. We start shooting in September in Connecticut.
Do you want to do more TV, too?
I love working in TV. The pace suits me better. I find with movies I'm always sitting around in my trailer doing nothing, but with television, you work 14 hours a day, you're working constantly, you're doing seven or eight pages of dialogue a day ... it's just a much more exciting pace for me.
Is it true that at one point you were, or still are, developing a New Kids on the Block movie?
No, it's a series, and it's loosely based on the years that I was forming the group.
And it's still in the works?
Yes, but it's more about my family, and less about the New Kids. We're meeting with some networks about it right now. We were going to do it with the CW last year, but we decided not to. It's a drama, but it's very fun and rich. It's about a working class family in Boston.
Speaking of your family, once and for all, can you clear up the rumor: You are or are not the inspiration for Johnny Drama on 'Entourage'?
No, I'm not.
The character is based on a cousin, is that true?
It's not even a cousin, but yeah, it's based on someone who's supposed to be a cousin. He says he's my cousin, but he's not.
